


Cold Feet

by ThirdGenerationRockette



Series: Will/Mac 1.0 [3]
Category: The Newsroom (US TV)
Genre: F/M, Pre-Series
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-07
Updated: 2018-02-07
Packaged: 2019-03-15 04:20:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,774
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13605408
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ThirdGenerationRockette/pseuds/ThirdGenerationRockette
Summary: It happens because of a pair of socks, of all the odd things; a fluffy, oversized, pair of bed socks.





	Cold Feet

It happens because of a pair of socks, of all the odd things; a fluffy, oversized, pair of bed socks.

It’s early September so it isn’t at all cold yet, but Will’s apartment is always chilly and Mackenzie’s feet are rarely warm. It’s late on Friday evening and they’re on his sofa, her feet in his lap, his legs stretched out onto the coffee table. The TV is on but neither of them is really watching, they’re both tired and full of the pasta they stopped to eat on the way back to Will’s place since neither of them really felt like cooking. They’ve been dating for five months and while she doesn’t stay over every night, it’s becoming a pretty regular thing. She likes sharing a bed with him, for reasons besides the obvious (although damn, she’s never been with a man who worships her in bed like Will does), she likes to curl up against him, she likes waking first and watching him sleep, and she loves seeing him first thing in the morning, bleary eyed and vulnerable, the way nobody else sees him. She realised a couple of weeks ago that maybe this could go somewhere, she and Will, maybe…

It makes her feel sick to think that until just a few weeks ago, Brian was still calling, not often but always managing somehow to catch her when her guard was down, asking her to come over, telling her he missed her. She’d get there, sleep with him, and hate herself afterwards when she was reminded that he didn’t miss her at all, what he missed was the power he once had over her; she’d leave while he was sleeping, furious with herself for allowing him control again, vowing it was the last time.

He had heard on the grapevine she was dating Will, and had told her to enjoy it while it lasted because Will would get tired of her needy bullshit soon enough. He was jealous, she could see that, hating that she was with someone who is everything Brian wishes he could be and so much more. Part of her liked knowing he was jealous, but a bigger part of her wondered if maybe he was right, perhaps she _was_ needy and it was only a matter of time before Will got bored with her. The final realisation that she needed to cut all ties with Brian for good came when he had thrown her clothes at her, told her to try and be gone before he finished showering and followed up with “And don't think I’ll be waiting for you to come running when McAvoy comes to his senses.”

Mackenzie had held it together on the cab ride home, made it through the living room, throwing her clothes on the floor as she went, before crying in the shower for fifteen long minutes, desperately trying to scrub away all traces of him, trying to tell herself he was wrong, she _is_ worthy of Will’s attention, she deserves someone who treats her like Will does. As she stood in shower fighting the waves of nausea washing over her, she finally saw Brian for what he is; an angry, jealous man who, if he doesn’t have control of her, doesn’t want her at all, and it’s over.

Done. No more.

“Mac?” Will sounds worried as he runs a finger slowly up her foot.

“Hmm?” she looks up at him, smiling when she sees his frown. “Sorry, I was miles away. I think I’m even more tired than I thought.”

“It’s been a pretty long week.” He lifts her feet gently off his lap so he can stand up. “Drink?”

“No thanks, I'm fine," she gestures towards the glass on the table. "I’ve barely started on that one.”

She closes her eyes and rubs her feet in the warm spot Will has left on the sofa, sighing as she realises how comfortable she is here with him, how much she relaxes around him, never feeling she has to prove herself or be something she isn't. Opening her eyes when she feels him lift her feet and sit back down, she smiles at him, a smile that turns into a slow yawn.

“I’m sorry, I’m shitty company tonight,” she says, her eyes closing again.

“Yeah, you’re the worst,” he tickles the underside of her foot lightly and she laughs.

She is building up the energy to sit up and suggest to him that they go to bed when she feels him slide a sock onto her foot, and her eyes fly open. He isn’t looking at her, instead he moves to her other foot and only looks up at her when she has two huge fluffy socks on her feet. When he meets her eyes, his smile is so tender, his expression so completely honest, that her eyes fill with tears and it hits her suddenly, why things have felt different the last few weeks.

“Hon?” his smile wavers when he sees her tears. “They’re just socks, your feet were freezing…“

Mackenzie pulls her feet from his lap and moves along the sofa to sit next to him, tucking herself against him when he pulls her closer. She strokes her fingers across his chest and he takes her hand, softly kissing her fingers.

“Thank you,” she murmurs. “For the socks.”

“You’re welcome. Your feet are always so cold, Mackenzie.” He keeps hold of her hand, tangling their fingers together. “Can’t have you freezing to death on me.”

“I love you, Will,” she says it almost as one long word because now she knows it’s true she can’t seem to say it quickly enough.

She _loves_ him, that’s what changed, that’s why Brian has no hold over her anymore; she loves Will and she doesn’t need validation (or whatever the fuck it is) from Brian.

“There it is,” he murmurs as he squeezes her fingers. “I love you too.”

*

_Come over tonight? Been a while…_

It’s been almost six weeks since she’s heard from Brian so she’s startled when her phone beeps and the message is from him. It’s Thursday night and she’s in her office after the show, deciding on the work she’ll take home and setting aside anything that can wait.

_Sure. Be there in half an hour._

As she hits send, Will appears in her doorway, jacket on, briefcase in hand, and she smiles at him.

“So...” She walks over and gives him a quick kiss. “I was thinking I'd go home tonight but then bring enough with me tomorrow to stay for the the weekend-“

“You could just move in, you know,” he interrupts, running his hand through his hair.

“You shouldn’t say things like that unless you mean them, Billy.” She smirks at him, before turning back to pick up the files she had decided to take.

“I’m completely serious,” he says, his hand on her arm.

“Okay.” She nods slowly, “Well...let’s talk about it this weekend, yeah?”

“Alright,” he agrees, catching hold of her as she’s about to walk past him to the door. “I’ll miss you tonight though, I’ll be all alone in my bed, you’ll be across town, all alone in yours.”

“You’ll see me in about…” She glances at her watch. “Eleven hours, depending on how early you can drag your arse into work tomorrow morning.”

“If you’re going to be here, I’ll make damn sure I’m early.” He pushes his hand into her hair and kisses her, nibbling on her bottom lip.

“Come on, if you’re lucky and there’s nobody around, I’ll let you do that all the way down to the lobby…”

*

The taxi stops outside Brian’s place and Mackenzie stands there for a minute, taking a deep breath, wondering what the hell she’s doing here, before finally ringing his buzzer. He never bothers to even speak when she rings, just buzzes her up like she’s a fucking UPS delivery, or the pizza guy; she wonders if he knows what a complete and utter arse he is.

He opens the door to his apartment and leans against the wall, hands in his pockets, unshaven, wearing a smirk that she would like to smack clean off his face.

“Been a while, Mac,” he says, still smirking. “Have you missed me?” “Like a hole in the head.” She rolls her eyes.

“Yet here you are.” He takes a hand out of his pocket and reaches for her, caught off guard when she sidesteps him.

“Don’t touch me, Brian," she says quickly, taking a breath as she steps back.

"Are you coming in or are we going to stand out here and fuck around?" He's annoyed, she knows that tone all too well.

"No. I'm not coming in. You don’t get to touch me, not anymore.” She almost spits the words at him. “This, whatever _this_ was? It’s over. Don’t call me, don’t text me, don’t even think about me.”

“Jesus Mac, did McAvoy piss in your cornflakes this morning, or does he not stick around for breakfast?” he sneers, reaching for her again, this time grabbing her wrist.

“I’m assuming you don’t want your neighbours to know what a total shit you are so I suggest you let go of me, or I swear to God I will scream this fucking place down.” Her voice is low, controlled, but her heart is pounding in her ears.

“Come on, Mackenzie, we both know why you’re here so you may as well quit the hard to get routine.” He lets go of her and steps back, seemingly still convinced she’s playing with him, the arrogant bastard.

“I have a taxi waiting downstairs.” She turns and starts to walk away, stopping one last time. “Do me a favour, Brian. Next time you just want to fuck someone and make them feel like shit, call somebody else.”

*

She doesn't realise she's shaking until she arrives back at her apartment and can't get her key in the lock. Leaning her head against the door, she closes her eyes and takes a few calm, steadying breaths, before trying her key again, letting herself inside and heading straight for the kitchen.

Sitting on the sofa with a mug of tea, she feels herself calming down, and dares to feel proud of herself for standing up to him although it's tempered with a wish that she had done it much sooner. Her thoughts turn to Will, she knows he played it cool when she told him she loved him, he told her when they woke up early the next morning that he'd known he was in love with her since their third date and if he'd known all it would take for her was a pair of socks....she smiles thinking about him.

She's in bed reading through the papers she brought home from work, stopping to scribble the occasional note in the margin when the phone rings, and she knows it's Will before she even looks.

"Hey."

"I didn't wake you, did I?" he asks.

"No, I was just looking through some of the stuff I brought home."

"And scrawling notes that you'll ask me to try and decipher tomorrow?"

"Yep," she smiles, putting the papers aside and leaning back against her pillows. "You're lucky I love you." She can hear him smiling.

"I know that." She takes off her glasses and runs a hand across her forehead.

"Of course not as lucky as I am that you love me." His tone is light, as if he senses the sudden dip in her mood. "Obviously."

"Well, _obviously_ ," she says, closing her eyes. 

"So," he says, pausing. "What are you wearing?"

"Hmm, you're in luck because right now I just happen to be wearing my sexiest PJs." 

"The ones with the penguins in top hats?"

"Right first time, baby." She pauses. "Are you in bed?"

"Nope," he answers, sighing. "Bed's too big without my honey in it." 

"Smooth, Billy." She snorts. "Well then...do you want to come over?"

"I don't know why you didn't just come home with me tonight anyway," he says, not exactly answering her question.

"Yeah, well." Her heart sinks as she thinks about how hurt he would be if he knew how stupid she'd been, running back to Brian these last few months.

She wonders briefly if she should tell him, if that would be the decent thing to do, but she knows there's no reason to hurt him now that whatever the hell she was doing is over, that it was over the minute she realised she was in love (quite madly, as it happens) with Will.

"I'm not saying I don't want to come over, Mac," he says, his voice soothing, "I can be there in a half hour."

"Alright, I suppose I can _try_ to stay awake until then," she says, sighing dramatically.

"I'm sure I can think of a few ways to keep you awake." His voice is low and her stomach flips over at the thought of him in her bed tonight.

"Oh, I know you can." She grins.

"I love you," he says and she hears him moving around his apartment, probably hurling things randomly into an overnight bag.

"I love you too. Just get a bloody move on."

Mackenzie picks up the papers she tossed aside earlier but gives up after a few minutes when she realises all she's doing is staring blankly at the pages. She picks up her phone and scrolls through her contacts until she reaches Brian, deleting him without even a second's hesitation. Will is on his way over and she’s going to show him just how much she loves him, tonight more than ever. She wants to lose herself in him entirely, to wrap herself around him and never let go. She’s angry with Brian for the way he treated her, for being unable to let her go completely, even though he was the one who dumped her, time and time again, but she’s even more angry with herself for allowing him to do it, yet still going back when he called.

Shaking her head, she forces herself to stop, she can see now that it was over with Brian a long time ago, he was completely wrong for her, she just didn’t quite realise it until she found someone so completely right.

She’s almost decided to once again pick up the work she brought home and try to make sense of her notes when she hears her buzzer. Twenty minutes since he called, pretty impressive, even for Will. She buzzes him up and opens the door before heading back into the bedroom to clear her papers off the bed, smiling when she hears him call her name.

“In here,” she calls back, moving her work and her phone to the table.

Will walks into the bedroom and puts his bag down, leaning down to kiss her softly and tweaking her ponytail playfully as he pulls back, grinning. Mac wraps her arms around him and rests her head against his chest, her hands holding tight to the back of his sweater.

“Mmm, you’re so comfy.” She sighs, her fingers digging into his back.

“Big old sofa, that’s me,” he says, his hand gently stroking the back of her neck. “You ok?”

“Yeah.” She moves onto her toes and places a gentle kiss to the side of his neck. “I’m sorry, I just…I’m sorry.”

“What for?” He sounds confused and she takes a deep breath.

“Oh nothing, really, just- well, I should have just come home with you after the show, you were right.” She shrugs, running a hand across his lower back.

“Doesn’t matter.” He sounds faintly amused. “I’m here now.”

“Good.” She steps back and smiles, biting her lip. "We do have a bit of a problem though." 

"We do?" He quirks an eyebrow and she lets out a soft laugh.

"Yeah..." Her hands move down his chest, her eyes never leaving his. "You're way too overdressed for this party, Billy."

"I guess _someone_ forgot to put the dress code on the invite." he pulls his sweater over his head and kicks off his shoes, moving his hands to cover hers as she starts to unbuckle his belt.

As he leans down to kiss her, pushing her back against the bed, she feels such overwhelming happiness that her breath catches momentarily, and she questions once again, just for a second, how she can possibly be good enough for Will. So she reminds herself that he loves her, she loves him, and they’re going to be fine; everything’s going to be fine.


End file.
